


The Marked

by Scythio



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Fluff, M/M, PTSD, Possible smut, Sci-Fi, Slow Build, Tourette's Syndrome, Tuckington is the main ship, super powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-20 15:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4792712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scythio/pseuds/Scythio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wash was free from his drunk of a father, only to later get captured and sent to some special facility. There he met the weirdest people, as well as Tucker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A New Start](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3441695) by [noumenon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noumenon/pseuds/noumenon). 



> As a note, I'm making this the Alpha Project, FtS will still be updated but not as often. I'm making this Alpha to help my friend with Tourette's because he's been insecure about it, please don't hate me.

Wash was finally free. Free from his drunk of a father, free from his shell of a mother. He managed to get a wad of money from his father’s wallet, enough to get him a train ticket far away. He didn’t have much else, just a light gray tank top with a darker gray hoodie with gold accents and some jeans. He headed to the train station, and took it to some town in Nevada, the farthest place he could get from that single story house in the rain.

\---{Two months later}---

_“OW! That hurt, you sorry piece of shit. Come here so I can beat the weird right out of ya!” Wash didn’t mean to hurt him, he couldn’t control it. His tics started getting worse, he started chirping. Another thing he couldn’t control. His father bore down on him, strike after strike with a baseball bat. Every time he struck, another spark flew and Wash yelped in pain. Every time he struck, Wash felt himself slipping away._

Wash woke up with a start, and an unfamiliar face staring at him.

“Hey ki-“ Wash reacted quickly, punching the stranger in the face, and leapt away panicking.

“St-stay away! I-I don’t w-wanna hurt y-you!” Wash realized that the person who woke him up was a cop – _Shit._ Said cop stood up.

“Fuckin’ brat! You’re gonna pay for that!” The cop pulled out his Taser, and fired at him. Both darts hit him, one in the shoulder, the other in the leg. A pleasant tingling went through him for a few seconds, before stopping. Wash pulled out the darts, uncontrollably grimacing from the tics the Taser set off.

“What the?” The cop put a second cartridge and fired, again hitting Wash. And a third. And a fourth. All of the shots sent a pleasant tingle through Wash, and increased the intensity of his tics.

The cop pulled his radio and turned it on.

“This is Barnsley, I’m gonna need back in an alleyway on the left of Luna Street. Over.” Barnsley turned off the radio “Ok kid, whatever trick you have, it’s not gonna work against this.” The cop pulled out his baton, and charged. Wash easily ducked under the baton, and gave his fist a charge before punching the idiot. Barnsley spasmed, before falling to the ground with a groan. Wash gave enough of a shock to daze him for around fifteen minutes, so he gathered his meager belongings and started to run. Only to be cut off by two cop cars. Four cops stepped out of both, and Wash knew he was done when they saw the incapacitated cop and pulled out their lethal weapons. He kneeled and let them take him.

\---{45 Minutes Later}---

"Son, we are gonna need to take that jacket of yours to search it." The local sheriff exclaimed while leaning forward to take it. Wash immediately backed away, it was the only thing hiding the sparks coming off his bare skin, as well as the mark on his shoulder. It was bad enough that the cops thought he was a freak because of his tics, if they saw that he was electric, well, he'd probably be sent to the nearest lab to be dissected.

"Kid, I'm not gonna hurt ya, just let me take your jacket." That didn't calm Wash, it only caused him to step back into the wall. The sheriff lunged at him, and Wash sidestepped into the corner. He didn't want to hurt the guy, so he just evaded him.

"Hey, Jeremy, Boris, come help me get this kid!" Two other cops stepped in the interrogation room, hands at the ready.  _Shit._ He was cornered, and there was no way he could get away from these guys. They all jumped him at the same time, and managed to get his hoodie off while he kicked and squirmed. They backed off once they saw the sparks and the mark on his shoulder, it was a spiral that turned into a lightning bolt and glowed a soft gold.

"Boris, call the Chorus facility. We got a Marked." Marked? Was that what he was called? A Marked? Were there others? The cops locked him in the Interrogation room for around an hour and a half, Wash guessed, before a tall guy with brunette hair and a scruffy beard walked in.

"Hello, son. I am the director of the Chorus facility, dedicated to training the Marked."


	2. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wash meets the Blood Gulch Crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I introduce all the powers of the characters. Also, everybody's human.

_“You are a freak, and no one will like you. You deserve to be beaten, because you’re worthless! YOU ARE A CURSED THING AND THERE’S NO LOVE FOR CURSED THINGS!” His father was using a knife now, cutting small scars into Wash’s arms, most of them staying. He was tied to a chair, and each slit burned. He screamed, and screamed, but no one cared. This was his life, and had been for years. Locked in a cold basement with only gruel and water to live on. No hope. No light. Just pain and loneliness. He just wanted t-._

“Hey! Dude! You okay?” A strange voice rang in Wash’s ears as he struggled against some strange thing binding him to the… mattress? That wasn’t right, he never had a mattress. The thing holding him down was actually a blanket? That wasn’t right either.

The voice came from someone beside him, and Wash punched them square in the nose.

“Ow!” Wash sprang up and dashed to the opposite wall of the stranger. His right eye was twitching like mad, and he was gulping like a fish out of water, not to mention that he only had a tank top on, so sparks were flying, quite literally.

“Dude, I’m not gonna hurt you! I just woke you up cause you were having a nightmare!” The guy –he was a guy- was holding out one hand, while the other was holding his nose. HE didn’t seem threatening, but Wash held his guard.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! I would never hurt someone unless they attacked first! Ow, dude, you got a mean punch!”

“Even if they were a freak?”

“Freak? What do you- oh. The sparks and glowing symbol on your shoulder? Everyone here has something like that. My symbol is on the back of my neck, but I don’t have the sparks.” Wash loosened a small bit.

“There’s people… Like me?”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re here. You are a Marked. We all are. They find us, ask our families, and take us here for training.”

“Oh.” Wash sagged slightly at the family part.

“Anyways, who are you? I’m Tucker.” Tucker took his hand off his nose and smiled.

“Wash.” He got out quietly.

“Wash? That’s a dumb name. Is it short for something?”

“Washington.”

“Wow, now that’s definitely a weird name. What can you do?

“I can… control electricity I guess?”

“That’s cool. Better than photokinesis. All I can do is make light. Also, can you stop making faces? It’s kinda offensive.” Wash didn’t know he was grimacing until Tucker pointed it out. Facial tics were hard to notice sometimes.

“Sorry, I can’t control it. The Director said I had Tourette’s Syndrome.” Wash had his arms crossed now, trying hard to hide as many scars as he could. He headed back to his bed, and sat on it.

“Two of the guards brought you in, you were drugged. They also put a bit of stuff in your dresser. You might wanna check it out.”

“Okay.” Wash was curious about that. He only had the clothes on his back and his hoodie, what did they put in there. He opened the dresser and found a few things. First, were some identical, cleaner versions of his clothes. Second, was his hoodie. Third, was some black rectangular device with a switch, a plug, and a silvery handle. It had a sticky note on it that read “ _For recharging and practice.”_ What did that mean? He plugged it in and turned it on. A small bolt of electricity came out of the handle.

“Dude, that’s not safe! It’ll shock you!” Wash ignored Tucker, and grabbed the handle, and the effect was immediate. Bliss filled Wash’s body, and he relaxed. This …charger was high voltage, from what it felt. Higher voltage meant better feeling. He let go after a few seconds, and realized something that tensed him up.

“What do you mean I was drugged!”

“Chill, they do it to all of us here. This place is like, super secret.”

“But still! They could’ve asked if it was okay to drug me! Or even bring me here!”

“Wait… They didn’t ask your parents? Did you come off the streets or somethin’? An orphanage?”

“Uh… I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Why di-“

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it!”

“Okay, sheesh. Is the sparking thing a warning? Cause its working.” Wash didn’t notice the blue sparks along his skin because he was so caught up with the parent thing. A computerized voice came from nowhere and it caused him to jump.

“ _Breakfast is now being served.”_

“Okay, Wash, let’s eat. And you can meet the crew.”

\---{|}---{|}---

Tucker was chatting the whole way to the mess hall.

“My friends aren’t that scary, or anything, just a bunch of idiots and assholes really. There’s Alpha and Epsilon, and you could say they are carbon copies of eachother, ‘cept Alpha’s bigger. Both assholes, really. There’s Caboose, who’s intimidating at first, but he’s a lovable idiot. Donut’s there, he makes things a bit uncomfortable, but he’s cheerful and stuff. Doc’s around sometimes, but he isn’t someone to worry about. Sarge is a bi-“ Tucker was cut off by a loud voice.

“Tucker! It is very good to see you again! Who’s that you are talking to!” A large, muscular guy was right behind them, and practically made Wash jump out of his hoodie. The stranger was easily six and a half feet tall, and Wash raised his hands. He reminded him too much of his father.

“Woah, Wash, calm down, this is Caboose. He’s not gonna hurt you. Caboose, this is Washington” Caboose bear hugged Wash, who fruitlessly struggled against it. He was grimacing like crazy, from the stress.

“Hello, Washingtub! It is nice to meet you!” Caboose said everything too cheerfully, which unnerved Wash. They walked the rest of the way to the mess hall, with Wash making sure that Tucker was between him and Caboose. They made it to the mess hall, grabbed their food, and sat down at a nearly crowded table. Everyone at the table seemed to be wearing jeans, and a shirt of a certain solid color.

“Hey Tuck, who’s the new guy?” The speaker was wearing a pure white shirt, and next to him was a smaller version of the guy, wearing light blue.

“Guys, this is Wash. Wash, meet my friends.” Everyone was staring at him, except for the orange-clad guy devouring his breakfast. He stood for a few seconds, before realizing that they were waiting for him to say something.

“Uh, hi.” Was all he stammered out before grabbing a chair. Tucker sat next to him, for which he was grateful.

“’Kay, guys. Introductions, standard stuff.” Tucker said this as if they did it multiple times. The light blue guy spoke up first.

“Before that, Wash, explain to us why are you making those _faces_.”

“I have Tourette’s Syndrome. It’s something I can’t control.”

“Ok. I’ll start then. I’m Epsilon, and my Mark is I can read people’s memories.” His brother, at least that was what Wash guessed, spoke next.

“I’m Alpha, and I am technokinetic.”

“I’m Caboose! And I can make metal things do stuff!”

“Ferrokinesis” Tucker cut in.

“I’m Sarge, and I am a lord of fire!”

“Simmons, and I’m aerokinetic. Grif. _Grif!_ ”

“Huh, what? Oh, newbie. I’m Grif, and I’m geokinetic”

“I’m Donut! And I’m empathic!”

“You know me. I’m Tucker, photokinetic and stuff.”

Simmons perked up.

“What’s your Mark?” Wash was startled by the sudden movement.

“Me? Oh, I can absorb electricity and use it later.”

“Electrokinesis, huh? Sounds like it’s stored in your central nervous system, and your body misinterprets this electricity as a signal, so your Mark causes your Tourette’s.” That sounded… smart. Probably right. Wash focused on his breakfast. A bagel with some scrambled eggs and an apple. He never had any eggs because his father belie–No. No going down that road. He went back to his food and started devouring it. After the eggs were finished, he felt a nudge from his side.

“Dude, you eat like you’ve never had eggs.” Tucker was staring at him. Wash answered without thinking, too overjoyed by this simple luxury.

“I’ve never had eggs.” Tucker gasped.

“You’ve _never_ had eggs? Did you grow up homeless? Come on, tell me.”

“What’s after breakfast?” Wash tried to change the subject.

“Don’t change the subject. How come you’ve never eaten eggs?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.” Wash ate in silence. He listened to the others’ conversations. Sarge was talking to Simmons, Grif, and Donut about how close he was to being able to throw a fireball. Tucker kept Caboose from causing the silverware to move, and Alpha and Epsilon were talking about coding, or something. Wash was zoned out, eavesdropping on Sarge’s sparring ideas, learning information about him if Wash ever had to spar with Sarge, so he was startled when a strange, older voice addressed him.

“David Washington, we need you to come with us.”


	3. Old Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash Backs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Some mildly gorey descriptions
> 
> Warning: Bad Writer

The man had a soft voice, and introduced himself as Counselor Price. Price told Wash to follow him and he did. Through several hallways, and down a flight of stairs. They reached a set of doors, and before they opened them, Price turned to Wash.

“Now, Washington, we are going to ask you some questions, standard protocol requires we have some guards. These men will not hurt you, so do not feel threatened. Understood?” Wash nodded.

“Good, now let us go in.” The room screamed danger to Wash. The mildew scent of wet earth, the stained concrete floor and walls, the small slits at the top of the windows to let in sunlight, it was too alike. Too similar to the basement of his pain. His breathing became irregular, his heart beat too fast. One memory came back to him, reminding him of the torture.

_It was a long time ago. Wash didn’t know how long as he had no way of measuring time. But he was young. That was what he remembered. He was small, and young, and had some amount of bravery in him. He was trying to escape, by climbing up to a window and hitting as hard as he could. He was too focused to hear the basement door opening, and his father walking down the stairs._

_“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO RUN AWAY?!” His father was outraged, and Wash noticed him all too late. He pulled him down, and tore off his shirt. His father pulled out a curved knife, this was new to Wash. It was the first time his father used a knife._

Wash noticed little outside the memory, but he saw the flashes of bright neon blue striking everywhere. Before a flash went off, he felt a tingling in his body, like the electricity was gathering under his skin and shot out.

_“YOU LITTLE BITCH! YOU UNGRATEFUL WHORE! A FUCKING SHIT WHO LIVES OFF OF MY WATER! MY FOOD! AND WHAT DO YOU DO! YOU RUN AWAY! AS IF I HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR YOU! YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL!” His father carved insults into Wash’s torso. A crimson red WHORE above his pelvis, a painful BITCH under his right shoulder, and a bleeding FUCKER along his left side, as well as more. He was left to lick his wounds and put makeshift bandages over them._

\---{|}---{|}---

Wash felt like shit. His bones ached and his muscles felt like he just finished lifting a full grown elephant. He felt a headache creeping up on him, and he knew what happened. He overexerted himself, used too much electricity. He’s only done that once before, but he knew what it was.

“Hey! He groaned! That means he’s alive!” Wash didn’t know who that was, and it made him nervous with how loud they were.

“Caboose! Be quiet!” That… was Tucker’s voice.

“Tucker! Practice what you preach!” This third voice was a harsh whisper. Wash decided to open his eyes, and see what was going on. He was awarded a flurry of voices

“Shit! He’s awake!”

“Hello Washing Machine!”

“The hottie’s awake!”

“Donut no!”

“Dirty blue! How dare you keep me worried!”

“Meh, Simmons made me stay.” Wash’s headache was getting worse with these voices, and he couldn’t stand it.

“Shut the fuck up everyone.” Tucker was startled, then shoved everyone out of the room.

“He needs some quiet! Everybody out!”

“Tucker what the fuck!”

“Hey!”

“Fine.” After everyone was locked out and it was only Wash and Tucker in their dorm, Tucker’s expression hardened.

“First off, Wash, what happened? They took you after breakfast, and you got back two hours after dinner. Now you are shaking and paler than Michael Jackson’s corpse.” Wash avoided his gaze.

“I used too much juice.”

“You what?”

“Like a battery, I can run out of electricity. It leaves me weak and shaky, with a nasty headache.” Tucker, upon hearing this, rushed to their closet, and grabbed the charging device. He plugged it in, and switched it on, avoided the electrified handle. Wash grabbed it, and greedily absorbed the voltage. Tucker, apparently, wasn’t finished.

“Secondly, who gave you those scars.” Tucker had Wash’s full attention. He thought Tucker meant the ones on his arms, but if he somehow saw the brands his father gave him, there was no lying about that. Tucker would probably abhor him, build a wall between them, and he’d be an outsider in the one place where he was supposed to be safe.

“No one gave them to me. They just accumulated over the years.”

“Bullshit. How do you get scars on your chest that say ‘Bitch’ and stuff. Someone gave ‘em to you and I wanna know how.” Wash was surprised. Tucker knew. No way around that. Looks like life as an outsider is the only option.

“How did you know?”

“Your clothes were burnt to shreds. You were practically naked! Check under the covers then, I put you under them so the others wouldn’t find out.” Wash checked. The lower half of his shirt was gone, and the upper half was barely there. His pants’ only existence was the waistband, but his boxers were untouched, thankfully.

“M-my father.” Wash’s voice was barely a whisper.

“What?”

“My father” Wash was louder now, a bit quieter than normal.

“My father, he locked me up in the house. I never got to go outside, or even leave the basement. I only got fed once a day, if I was lucky. My father, he… He beat me. Called me a freak. A ‘normal person wouldn’t have a magical brand or be electric’, he said that I was the source of his problems. That I was a mutant freak, who caused bad luck. So, he tried to beat it out. Usually, he used fists. Then, when I got more electric, he used bats, and knives sometimes. I tried to escape once, and that led to the brands you saw. Please, please don’t hate me.” Tucker was silent for a minute. Two minutes. Five. Then, he spoke.

“Is that why you have nightmares?”

“Yes.” Tucker moved closer towards Wash.

“Would you like me to help?”

“Not without me telling you.”

“Okay.”

\---{Later That Night}---

_Time for blood, Shitbag!_ Wash woke up, crying. A soft, teal light illuminated the room immediately, and Tucker swung from the top bunk.

“Need anything?” Was the whisper.

“Yes.” Was the answer.

Tucker responded.

“What is it?”

“Can you… Can you sleep with me, in my bed?”

“Sure. Bow chicka bow wow.” The light went out, and Wash felt warmth. Tucker’s arms weren’t big, but they felt strong. He fell asleep, softly snoring into the other’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I'll try to make them longer.


	4. Strange Wakings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another dawn. A cuddly waking. A bickering. A new tutor.

_“Get off my lawn you faggots!” Was Wash’s father response to seeing the two boys kissing on the sidewalk. He was watching through the three inch slit, saw his father chase off two boys with a metal bat. He saw his father come back, and heard the door slam. Then, the basement door open, and slam shortly after. His father was here, holding a wooden bat. Wash begged, and pleaded, but those turned to cries of pain and agony. The bat slammed into his head, putting him into a daze, prone on the ground. His father stood over him, and he swung -._

Wash woke with a gentle shake. His tears still flowed from the nightmare, but there was a strange warmth from his side. Something ran softly through his hair.

“Shh, shh. Its okay, you’re safe. You’re safe.” The voice was soft. It was gentle. It was Tucker’s.

Why would Tucker be sleeping in Wash’s bed? Why isn’t he sleeping in his own bed? Then, the events of last night flooded his head. What would his dad think? Probably beat the kid and his friend. Probably with knives.

“Don’t think about your father. Focus on me. Focus on me.”

“How did you know I was thinking about my father?” Wash’s voice was quiet, barely audible.

“Because you get all tense and shaky when you think about him. Listen, I don’t like you looking all nervous and stuff, its not good. Especially for someone so tiny and adorable like you.” Tucker held a bit of something… kind in that last bit.

“I’m not tiny!” Was Wash’s retaliation. Tucker countered

“Yes you are! You are like what? 5’6”? 5’5”?” Wash decided this was a fight he couldn’t win, so he dug his face into Tucker’s chest, breathing in Tucker’s scent. It was warm, like a bittersweet scent. It took around 30 seconds for Tucker to speak again.

“Uh, I know you like to cuddle like the little teddy bear you are –“ Tucker earned a moody growl “-But breakfast starts in like twenty minutes, so we should get ready and everything.” Wash felt Tucker pull away and get out of his bed, and then Wash was temporarily blinded.

“Aw, fucking hell! Why are the lights so bright?!” Tucker chuckled lightheartedly.

“I dunno, maybe its because we live in a high quality training facility? Get out of bed lazy ass.” Wash got up, his eyes still adjusting to the brightness of the room, when he noticed something.

“You weren’t wearing _anything but some boxers?_ ” Wash was fuming. And embarrassed. His father would probably beat him for a good day. Maybe two.

“Dude, calm down! I wasn’t gonna fuck ya or anything. Consider yourself lucky that I wasn’t naked like I usually sleep like.”

“You should wear more!” Tucker was barely keeping in his laughter, Wash could tell. Wash went to his closet, and grabbed a tank top and a pair of jeans, then going to the bathroom to get changed.

“Hey, Wash, wait! One thing, her you go!” Tucker tossed him a swath of gray cloth, which Wash quickly discerned was a hoodie. A large one. Wash went in the bathroom, put on the new clothes, and walked out. The hoodie was very large on him. The sleeves covered most of his hands, leaving out the very tips of his fingers, and extended down to his mid-thigh. It was a light gray, spare for the edges of the sleeves, which were Tucker’s signature aqua. Tucker was also dressed, wearing jeans and an aqua shirt with an image of some weird thing on it.

“Oh my god! You are so cute! You’re like a tiny kitten! One sec, I need to take a picture.” Tucker pulled out a silvery, metal rectangle and aimed it at Wash. A flash came out of the corner and Wash ducked and put his hands in a protective position over his head.

“Woah, Wash! I’m sorry! I wasn’t gonna hurt you! Are you okay?” Tucker was over Wash, holding him with his arms.

“Yeah, but please… warn me next time. What is that thing anyways?” Wash was staring at the rectangle.

“This? It’s a phone. Its for… talking to others when they are far away, or taking pictures.” Tucker was intensely searching him, looking for signs of a panic attack. Wash stood up and shook it all off.

“Let’s… just go eat.”

\---{|}---{|}---

Wash was grumpy about it, but he did agree that he was shorter than most. He didn’t know what the terms Tucker used meant, but Tucker was tall enough to rest his head on Wash’s. Which is what he did, with much complaint from Wash, when they waited for their breakfast. What they got was a couple of floppy, golden brown discs with a small cup of a dark brown fluid, and a few strips of what looked like crispy flesh. They were the first to get to their table, so Tucker told him about the food.

“So these – “ Tucker pointed to the floppy discs “- are pancakes. You stab them with the fork, then cut them with the knife. Then, you dip them in the maple syrup, and eat ‘em up.” Wash reciprocated the action, but had a little trouble cutting the pancake.

“Now, uh, how do I eat this?” Wash was indicating the strips of flesh.

“Bacon? Oh, you just pick it up with your hands and take a bite. It’s the most amazing thing ever. After sex, of course. Bow chicka bow wow.”

“Excuse me, you whore. Bacon is most definitely the best thing ever! Sex doesn’t even come close!”

“Grif! All you care about is food! Do you even care about the education and training of how to control your geokinesis!”

“Food is the best! I also do care about my power! I just think eating is more important!”

“Don’t be a fatass! Can’t you commit to anything other than laziness?”

Grif and… Simmons? Yeah, Simmons. Anyways, they were bickering extremely, going back and forth like rapid fire. Tucker nudged him.

“Those two, have like, massive crushes on eachother.”

“Crushes?”

“They are in love.”

“Love?”

“Holy shit. You weren’t kidding about living in a basement.”

“ _I told you not to bring it up around others._ ”

“Ooookaaaay. You are cute, but you can be really scary.”

“I’m not cute!”

“Yeah, you are!”

“I am not! I could put several lightning bolts through you right now!”

“No you won’t, cause you are a cute lil’ kitten!”

“Stop calling me that! I don’t even know what that means!”

“Woah, Tucker and the newbie goin’ at it like Grif and Simmons.”

“Epsilon, you ass!”

“We may have another gay love story right here!”

“ _Shut up Epsie._ ”

“I told you not to call me that!”

“Fine. Where the hell is Alpha?”

“I dunno. Dad needed his help with something. Somethin’ about restoring damaged footage.”

“Of course. Wait…” Tucker pulled out his phone and looked at it. On it were some squiggly lines.

“Wash, you done?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I have to show you to your private tutor.”

\---{|}---{|}---

“Hello! My name is Doctor Emily Grey!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the short chapters. I don't get much time to work on these! I hope it's acceptable.


	5. Apologies From The Writer

My Boyfriend and I have been going through some troubles lately, mostly dealing with him being outed to his parents. I hope this is acceptable, and I am working on chapter 5 as fast as I can. This is why the next chapter is late.


	6. Beginner's Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wash gets his first lessons.

“Oooh! Tourette’s Syndrome! Never had one of you Marked have Tourette’s! Interesting! Very interesting! I wonder if it has anything with your electrokinesis! Aaaah! Simmons yes! Very clever boy he is! Helps me a lot! Yes! It appears that you store the electricity in your central nervous system! And your body mistakes it for a signal! This is why your Tourette’s is more prominent when you have more electricity stored!” This… Doctor Grey was fast. Energetic and hyper. Joyful glee. The same glee his father got sometimes before or during his beatings.

_“Oooh freeeeak! I got somethin’ special for ya! It’s a whip –“_ Wash snapped out of his flashback, momentarily focusing on his tutor, who was gripping him and staring intensely into his eyes. Everything went blurry and the memory came back

_“- made of leather and metal! These adult stores make your –“_ Wash again, focused into the real world. Dr. Grey hadn’t changed position, but this snapping in and out never happened.

_“- pain much easier to inflict!”_ He felt another force in his head. One, that pushed the memory away, that stopped his flashback. The force was Dr. Grey.

“I’m sorry. Your father is despicable.” Grey was much more somber now.

“You… You stopped it?”

“No. I took the flashback. I lived through that memory.” Wash felt guilty at that. He endured a life of pain, but he didn’t want anyone else to go through it.

“Why… Why would you do that?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to go through pain. Mental or physical. I’m a doctor.” Grey was stern for a little more before perking up.

“Now! Let’s get started. Can you read?”

“Uh… What’s read?”

“Okay, that answers that! Reading is like… look at these letters!” Grey pointed at seemingly random lines.

“Reading is looking at those letters, and making them into words. Lets start with the alphabet.” Grey went to the wall, grabbed some sort of stick and began writing letters. She then made Wash memorize their basic sounds. He learned ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and so on until they reached ‘M’, where they ran out of time.

“Oh! Look at the time! Tucker’s supposed to b-“ Grey was cut off by a knock at the door.

“Come in Tucker!” The door opened and Tucker was there.

“Hello Dr. Grey. I’m supposed to take Wash to-“

“Kinesis training, yes! You two share the same class as well!” Tucker was dumbfounded at this.

“How did you know?”

“Well, telepathy my dear. You have some loud thoughts.” Tucker blushed at this. Wash didn’t know what that meant, so he was going to ask Tucker later on.

“Okay, well, nice seeing you Dr. Grey, I’ll be taking Wash with me.” Tucker slapped his hand on Wash’s shoulder, causing the latter to flinch and shy away from the former.

“Shit! Wash I’m so sorry.” Tucker removed his hand and checked Wash over, making sure Wash wasn’t having a panic attack. Wash regained his posture, and returned closer to Tucker.

“I’m okay, I just didn’t expect that.” Tucker again did a once over. He must’ve deemed Wash was okay, because he put his arm around him carefully and bid farewell to Grey. They walked out of the room before Wash asked his question.

“What’s telepathy?”

“Telepathy? That’s…. uh… You know the little voice in your head?”

“Yeah?”

“Those are your thoughts. A telepath, or person who has telepathy, can read other peoples’ thoughts.”

“Okay.” They walked in silence for a minute or two, passing Grif and Simmons, who were arguing about a… storm of sand? They passed Epsilon and Alpha as well, which the former emitted a whistle. Tucker blushed and removed his arm from Wash’s shoulders. It was Tucker who broke the silence.

“So, we have Kinesis training, which we both have together. Its just us, and the trainer, who’s really badass. Her name’s Kimball.” Wash was curious. There seemed to be a decent amount of people here, why would Tucker be the only other person in Kinesis Training?

“Why is it just us in Training?”

“Well, Kimball specializes in teaching photokinetics, even though she’s telekinetic. You, although, are the first electrokinetic here, I believe. I guess that photokinesis is the most similar to electrokinesis?” Wash heard Tucker talk about photokinesis before, but never heard it explained. Tucker was helpful, so, he inquired its meaning.

“What’s photokinesis? I’ve heard you say it before, but I’ve never got what it meant.” Tucker let out a sigh, and facepalmed.

“Photokinesis is the manipulation of light and color. I’m photokinetic, soo-” Suddenly, the white lights in the hallway turned to a soft aqua for a few moments, before reverting to their original color.

“-Yeaah. Anyways, our stop’s right here, so get ready as Kimball’s probably arguing with Doyle.” Tucker opened the door, and two, very loud voices became apparent.

“WE CAN’T JUST TEACH THEM TO ATTACK FIRST! WE NEED TO KEEP THEM ALIVE AND SO WE HAVE TO TEACH DEFENSE FIRST!”

“VANESSA WHAT GOOD IS A SOLDIER WHO CAN’T FIGHT BACK!”

“ONE WHO DEFENDS THE CIVILIANS!”

“Ahem, Doyle, Kimball, training starts in three minutes.” Tucker put himself between the man and woman. Meanwhile, Wash slugged away from the argument. The man dressed in white and yellow left the room, while the woman stayed behind.

“I’m sorry about that. Its just that Doyle is such a prick. Anyways, I presume that you are David Washington?” Kimball was dressed in tan pants covered in weird blobby designs that were sometimes lighter or darker. She also had on a sky blue tank top. Wash gulped, and nodded.

“I-its Wash, please.” Kimball reminded Wash of his father. She dressed the same, stood the same, shouted the same way too. Wash started breathing irregularly, fear filling his blood and panic swarming his thoughts. Kimball’s face changed, but he couldn’t tell how. His mind focused on that awful place.

_Dull gray concrete, illuminated by a flickering yellow light-_

“Kimball, he’s having a flashback!”

“I know! I trying to figure out how to ground him!”

_-The smell of blood, sweat, and pain-_

“Tucker, how’d you know! Does he trust you?!”

“I think so! More than anyone else I think!”

_-His father, with a villainous smirk, enjoying Wash’s pain-_

Strong hands gripped Wash’s shoulders. Tucker stared intensely into Wash’s eyes. His voice was calm but firm.

“Wash, focus on me. Focus on me, and let everything else become noise in the background.” Wash noticed how Tucker’s eyes were a vibrant green. He smelled the bittersweet scent that Tucker wore, and his flashback was diminishing into the background. Wash’s breathing fell into rhythm, and fear no longer occupied his mind. Wash shakily stood up, and Tucker followed. It took a second, but Tucker removed his hands from Wash’s shoulders. Kimball broke the silence.

“Right. Wash, step to the side and take a breather. Tucker, you are first. Standard stuff.” A humanlike doll started moving, levitating towards Tucker. Wash was startled by it.

“U-uh, what? How?” Kimball snickered under her breath.

“I’m a telekinetic Wash. I can move objects with my mind. Okay, Tucker, start.” Immediately, the doll swung towards Tucker. He didn’t move to block it, or anything. Wash gasped when the doll seemed to hit Tucker, but it went right through him. Tucker disappeared, but reappeared behind the doll, and delivered a series of punches to the back and head. This seemed to go on for eternity, Tucker creating illusions, both he and the doll exchanging blows. Finally, the doll spun a kick through an illusion and circled around, swinging the kick into Tucker. The tall photokinetic flew a few feet before hitting the ground, and Wash gasped out of worry. Tucker must’ve heard it, because he slowly stood up.

“Don’t… Worry. I’ve been hit… harder.” Tucker slowly walked to the bench as Kimball dismissed him.

“Okay Wash, your next. Oh, don’t make that look, I’m not having you spar yet.” The latter remark was made as Wash visibly looked shocked.

“Now, tell me, what can you do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I updated so late. I've been moving around alot, so I haven't been able to work on this.


End file.
